


Diffused

by jeck



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-14
Updated: 2012-06-14
Packaged: 2017-11-07 18:04:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/433878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeck/pseuds/jeck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even the most hardened of hearts can be chipped away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Diffused

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to dramady for the beta and the hand-holding. <3

She'd been through so much. More than Daryl had. He had to fucking remind himself of that as he glared at Carol before turning around and stalking away, mumbling curses and shit, boot kicking dirt up from the fucking ground.

Carol had a way of diffusing Daryl and he hated it. He hated her for chipping away at the giant wall of anger he very carefully built around him.

He hated her. Hated her because she made him give a fucking rat's ass. That she made him _care_.

Goddamn fuckin' bitch didn't know when to shut her trap.

He shouldn't have given her that Cherokee rose. Shouldn't have cared enough to look for her god damned little girl.

He shouldn't have given her hope.

The kid. A fucking walker. God damned fucking turned. Bullet in the head from Rick's gun.

No mother should've seen that. No mother should've gone through that shit.

Daryl had no fucking Ma. He had Merle. But when he got lost in the damn woods, he pretended cos over there? No one fucking saw. No one fucking heard. He pretended she was there, his Ma. That she looked for him. That she found him, took him home and made him a goddamn sandwich.

That was how he found his way back. And then he made himself a sandwich with moldy bread and whatever else he could find.

He always thought she left cos of them. Him and Merle. Seeing Carol with that no good piece of shit husband of hers he thought that maybe that was what it was. That was the reason his Ma left.

Carol should've had the balls to leave but then Daryl wouldn't have left Sophia either if it were him.

Now she got no one. Just a musty rag doll and a dried up Cherokee rose.

But she went on, didn't she? Even if she lost it all? Kinda like Daryl but a lot stronger than he ever could be.

God fucking damnit.

He stalked back over. Even angrier. Not sure what he was gonna say cos she made him fucking _care_.

And he didn't know how to fucking care.

So Daryl stood there suddenly unsure, biting at his nail while his eyes flicked to Carol then away.

"She died a long time ago," she said. Approaching, hand reaching for him and Daryl jerked away a few times. Skittering. But she held him, his cheek, hand on his wrist to pull his finger out of his mouth.

She cupped his face and held him there. Kissing him on the mouth and probably tasting the dirt and blood from the finger he'd been nibbling on.

Stupid fucking bitch. Diffusing. Chipping away. Knowing he'd yell and curse. Knowing he'd push her away. She still kissed him even when neither his lips or body moved.

But then he moved his head and pressed his lips to hers and kissed her back awkwardly.

Carol just kept chipping away, chipping away, and no one ever fucking cared enough to look for him in the woods. No one fucking cared enough to look for him here.

But there she was, her tongue probing, her actions diffusing, and he was fool enough to let her.

Chipping away, chipping away, trying to find him.

And he didn't want to fucking care.

But when he pulled back his eyes were almost narrow slits and they stared while the back of his hand wiped at his mouth. Daryl turned back around and left. No words. No curses.

Later, Carol would find another rose. Daryl didn't say shit when he next saw her but he kept stealing fleeting glances and she'd look back and smile. He gave her a barely there nod and looked away.

Stupid fucking woman. Chipping away. Finding him.

Making him care.

Giving him hope.


End file.
